Machine for assorting bristles



(No Model.) y} 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

T. G. THOMPSON. I

, MACHINE FOR ASSORTING BRISTLBS. I

No. 560,87*0f Patented Ma z'a, 18-96.

ANDREW EGRANAM. PHOTO-U'I'HQWASHINGTOMDG.

2 b e e h S w e e h S 2 N 0 s P M 0 T a d 0 M 0 w MACHINE FOR ASSORTINGBRISTLBS. No. 560,870.

Patented May 26, 1896.

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NITEED STATES WATENT MACHINE FOR ASSORTING BRISTLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 560,870, dated May 26,1896. Application filed December 23, 1895. Serial No. 573,054. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS G. THOMPSON, of Chicago, in the county ofCook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Machines for Assorting Bristles; and I do herebydeclarethat the following is a full, clear, and exact descriptionthereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to theletters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

This invention relates to improvements in machines for assortingbristles-that is to say, assorting a quantity of bristles of variouslengths into separate piles, the bristles of each pile being of uniformlength. I have denominated said improvement a dragging-machine, becausethe separation of bristles, when performed by hand, is termed drags? Aprincipal object of my invention is to provide an extremely simplepractical machine which may be fed by the operator with the exercise ofbut little care, and therefore with great rapidity, and which will actto automatically assort and separate the bristles as they are fedthrough the machine.

A machine embodying my invention will comprise a suitable frame providedwith a traveling bristle-carrier, one edge of whichtravels against astraight edge or fixed part of the frame of the machine. The machinewill also comprise a suitable friction device placed above the operativeportion of said carrier for the purpose of frictionally retaining saidbristles upon said carrier. The machine will also comprise one or morepairs of drawing-rolls, the axes of which will be parallel to the lineof travel of the bristle-carrier. These rolls will be placed at varyingdistances from the margin of said carrier opposite that edge which abutssaid straight edge or stationary part of the frame of the machine andwill .usually be caused to revolve at a much 'carrier and thedrawing-rolls.

also be employed to receive the bristles from the different sets ofdrawing-rolls, also means for imparting the desired speed to thediiferent parts, and means for causing the proximate ends of thebristles to engage the stationary part of the machine to thus shift thebristles transversely of the carrier for the purpose of bringing saidends in a common plane.

IVhile the invention contemplates the parts above described used inconnection with a single set or pair of rolls, I prefer in practice touse a machine having at least four of such sets or pairs of rollsarranged at different distances from the outer margin of the travelingcarrier, so as to make simultaneously at least five differentseparations.

The invention will be more fully understood by reference to theaccompanying drawings, in whiel1 Figure 1 is a side view of a machineem-- bodying myinvention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is alongitudinal vertical sectional View taken between the traveling Fig. 4:is an enlarged plan view of a portion of a machine, showing the positionof a pair of drawing-rolls. Fig. 5 is an enlarged transverse verticalsectional view taken through one pair of the drawing-rolls. Figs. 6 and7 illustrate in plan and in vertical sectional viewa preferred form ofthe traveling carrier or belt. Fig. 8 is a side view of the dischargeend of the machine, showing the driving mechanism.

The machine is composed, preferably, of an open frame, of verticalsupports or timbers a and cross-pieces a, (designated as a whole by theletter A. Suitably mounted in horizontal hearings on said frame are twopulleys A A over which travels a horizontally-arranged carrier B, onemargin of which travels parallel with and adjacent to a straight edge orsurface a of an upright part or back board a of the frame A. Saidcarrier will preferably take the form of an endless belt, but any otherform of carrier may be used. A similar carrier B is mounted above thecarrier B and travels over revoluble pulleys A A suitably mounted on theframe A, as shown. At one end of the machine I provide a shaft 0, uponwhich is mounted a pair of pulleys C C and the pulley A over which thecarrier or belt B travels. One of the pulleys O is connected by a belt0' to the shaft 0 on which the pulley A is mounted. Motion is given tothe shaft 0 by means of a belt 0 passing over the other pulley O andconnected with any suitable source of power. As indicated in Fig. 8, thebelt 0 may be trained over a pulley c on a counter-shaft 0 mounted insuitable bearings on the standards 0 c, and which counter-shaft may beoperated by a belt 0 passing over the fast and loose pulleys c 0 Thebelts c 0 will be so connected that the pulleys A A and A A will travelin the direction indicated by the arrow thereon in Fig. 3, and wherebythe carriers 13 and B will be caused to move in the same direction.

As a preferred form of construction I have shown the carriers ascomprised of two memhers I) Z). From the inner surface of the outermember I) are driven a plurality of headed pins In a carrier-belt of,say, an inch or an inch and a quarter in width I prefer to place threerows of said pins 1) across the width of the belt and to arrange thepins atequal distances apart throughout the length of the belt, asindicated in Fig. 6, as I find this a convenient and economicalarrangement. The length of the pins 11 will be governed bycircumstances; but I prefer a pin that projects less than one-eighth ofan inch above the carrie'r-belt. While I have shown said carrierconstructed as described I do not desire to be limited thereto, as itwill. be obvious that any traveling carrier having a roughened surfacesufficient to take hold of the bristles will answer the purpose. Theeffective part of the machine will of course be that opposite thedragging-rolls, and hence the carrier B is positioned opposite saidrolls while the lower carrier B will project at each end of the framebeyond the pulleys A A at the forward end for the purpose of enablingthe operator to place the bristles upon said carrier," and at the rearend to carry the shortest bristles-to wit, those that have not beentaken up by any set or pair of rollspast the rear end of the uppercarrier B and deliver them into a proper chute or receptacle, the lengthof the said eX- tension being regulated as desired.

Mounted in any suitable manner upon the cross-timbers a of the frame ofthe machine are two shafts D D, parallel to each other, their axes beingsubstantially parallel to the direction of travel of the carriers. Uponeach shaft D D is mounted a roller (Z d, and upon one of the shafts,preferably the lower one D, is mounted a driving-pulley (1 A belt dpasses over said pulley d and over a pulley d on the counter-shaft dwhich latter is driven by any suitable source of power. here a pluralityof dragging-rolls d d are employed, the shaft d should preferably extendbeneath them all, each set of rolls having a driving-pulley 61 connectedby a belt d with a pulley d on said shaft. It is also preferable to havea pair of driving-pulleys d? (I mounted on said shaft 01 over one ofwhich pulleys a belt d is trained, and which belt is connected with anysuitable source of power. Any suitable shifting device (indicated by thelever (1 may be employed to shift the belt (1 from the pulley d to thepul ley (1 or the reverse, one of which pulleys will be loose upon thecounter-shaft (1 whereby the machine may be conveniently started andstopped.

As a cheap and simple construction for causing the upper roll d to bemaintained in frictional, at the same time in yielding, c011- tact withthe lower roll d, I bolt a spreaderblock E upon the cross-timber a ofthe frame of the machine and secure to said block E a yielding or springplate E by the same bolts 6 by which the said block E is secured to thecross-timber a. To the free or forward end of said plate E and to theunder side thereof is secured any suitable journal-bearing for the shaftD. \Vhen motion is imparted to the lower roll d by the belt (1 asstated, motion is also imparted to the upper roll (1 by reason of thefrictional contact of the latter with the frame. hen a bristle ispresented to the rolls cl cl, the revolution of the latter will drag thebristle away from the carrier B and between the rolls (1 d, afterpassing through which the bristle will be deposited in any suitablechute F. In order to permit the rolls cl to be raised slightly, so asnot to crush or grind the bristles, the plate E may be given a suitableresiliency or spring action and will be caused to return the upper roll(1 promptly by reason of the spring 6, suitably coiled about a bolt 6which latter projects through the cross-timber a and through the plateE. The spring a is located above the plate E, its lower end bearing onsaid plate and its upper end bearing upon a washer held in position by anut e \Vhile this is a simple arrangement for the purpose indicated, Ido not de-- sire to be limited thereto, but desire to held within thescope of my invention any form of dragging-rolls, one of which shall bepositively operated from a suitable source of power, and the other ofwhich shall be arranged in frictional, but yielding, cont-act therewith.If the longitudinal axes of each set of drawing-rolls be parallel withthe direction of movement of the carrier 13, it is manifest that theends of the long bristles which are to be caught between saiddragging-rolls will have a sweeping motion as they are drawn from thecarrier B, which will tend to carry other bristles that may belying'adjacent thereto on the carrier off from said carrier, perhaps tofall into the chute through the space between the carrier and the rolls,or to be caught by the rolls and carried through, whereby no properseparation of the bristles as to length will be made. In order toobviate this difficulty, I place the dragging rolls d d in a paralleldirection to the direction of travel of the carrier B, but not preciselyparallel thereto. In other words, looking at Fig. 4 of the drawings, theleft-hand IIO of the roll cl. in a parallel direction to the directionof side of the figure represents the feed end of the machine, and itwill be noticed that the left end or feed end of the roll d ispositioned at a greater distance from the margin of the carrier B thanis the other or right-hand end I regard the placing of the rolls travelof the carrier B, but at a slight inclination therefrom, as an importantelement of my invention.

A very desirable feature of my invention consists in the arrangement ofthe feed end of the machine, whereby the inner ends of the bristles arecaused more readily to come into the same plane and abut against thestraight edge face of the board at In practice the bristles are laid onthe carrier 13 with their butt-ends projecting over the inner margin ofthe said carrier-to wit, projecting over that margin of the carrieradjacent to the surface of the board u At a suitable distance forward ofthe pulley A the said face of the board a is cut away or inclined, asclearly indicated at G. It will be obvious, therefore, that as thecarrier 13 moves forward in the direction indicated by the arrow, Fig.4:, the butt-ends of the bristles placed thereon and projecting over themargin of said carrier, as stated, will come in contact with theinclined or cut-away surface G of the board a and as said carriercontinues to move forward the inclined surface G acts as a wedge andpushes the bristles transversely across the carrier, so that finally thebutt-ends of all the bristles will be substantially in the same plane.Of course a skilful operator would place the bristles very carefullyupon the carrier 13 in feeding them to the machine, so that a majority,if not all of the butt-ends thereof, would lie in the same plane; butshould any project over through carelessness or otherwise then theinclined surface G will act as indicated, and thus stack up or abut thebristles. WVhen the bristles, therefore, are car+ ried along by thecarrier B, the longest bristles only will be caught between the No. 1set of rolls (1 cl, while the next longest bristles will be caughtbetween set No. 2 of the rolls d (1, said set No. 2 being positionedsomewhat closer to the margin of the carrier B than is No. 1, and so onthrough the various separations until finally there remain upon thecarrierB only those bristles of the predetermined minimum or less thanthe minimum length, which bristles are carried along until they fallinto the chute F The bristles coming from the No. 1 set of rolls willfall into the trough or chute F, suitably positioned in the frame of themachine beneath said rolls, while the bristles coming from sets No. 2,No. 3, and No. 4: will fall into similar receptacles F F F In some casesthe desired tension upon the bristles as they lie upon the carrier B maybe given by the lower lap of the upper carrier B; but in order to getpositive and the very best results I recommend the use of some suitabletension device upon the upper surface of the lower lap of said carrierB.

One form of such tension device I have illustrated herein, as follows: Aguide-board H, as thick as the carrier 13 is wide, is movably mounted onthe frame A between the pulleys A and A In the instance illustrated theguideboard H is pivotally secured to the back plate a by a bolt and nuth h and a pair of links h the bolt h passing through the upper ends ofsaid links. It is desirable that the speed of the carriers 13 and Bshall be relatively slow with respect to the speed by which thedragging-rolls are rotated. Whatever speed is given to the rolls-sayfrom thirty to one hundred revolutions per minute-it is desirable thatthe dragging-rolls be run at any wherefrom five and six hundred toeighteen hundred revolutions per minute, the object being to drag thebristles very suddenly from between the upper lap of the carrier B andthe lower lap of the carrier B the instant the outer or free end iscaught between the draggingrolls, and I find the very best results aresecured by considerable difference in the speeds, as indicated.

The machine above described is very simple and cheap in construction, isvery durable, has no complicated parts to get out of order," and is verysuccessful in operation. It may be manipulated by unskilled labor andhas a much greater capacity per working day than several skilled men,while at the same time the separation into lengths are made with perfectaccuracy.

The guide-board Il may be operated by gravity; but I prefer to insure apositive operation thereof by means of a spring h one end of which restsupon the upper edge of the guide-board H, and the other end pressesagainst a block or support on the back plate a I claim as myinvention- 1. The combination with revoluble draggin g-rolls, of abristle-carrier, comprising two endless belts arranged to traveladjacent to each other at one side and provided with intermeshing studsand means for moving said carrier lengthwise of and adjacent to saidrolls, whereby some of the bristles held by said carrier will be caughtbetween said rolls and dragged from the carrier, substantially asdescribed.

2. The combination with revoluble dragrolls and driving connectionswhereby they are driven at a high speed, of a bristle-carrier upon whichthe bristles are frictionally held, and means for moving the carrierlengthwise of and adjacent to the dragging-rolls at a :relatively lowspeed,whereby the bristles are each withdrawn from the carrier with ajerking movement, and without disturbing those of a shorter lengthadjacent thereto.

3. The combination with a bristle-carrier and means for imparting a slowmotion to the same, of a straight edge surface or guide arrangedadjacent to and parallel with one of the margins of said carrier, at thereceiving end thereof, a plurality of revoluble rolls mounted in pairslengthwise of said carrier, but at varying distances therefrom, andmeans for impartinga rapid revolution to the rolls, substantially asdescribed.

4. The combination with a bristle-carrier and means for actuating thesame, of a straight edge surface adjacent to and parallel with one ofthe margins of said carrier, and revoluble dragging-rolls mountedlengthwise of said carrier opposite to the said straight surface, thelatter being providedat the feed end of the machine with a tapered orcut-away portion, substantially as described.

5. In abristle-separatin g machine, the combination with ahorizontally-arranged bristlecarrier and means for actuating the same,of a vertically-arranged pair of drag-rolls means for actuating one ofsaid rolls, and a tension device acting upon. the other roll andarranged to permit bodily approach and recession of the latter,substantially as described.

6. In abristle-separatingmachine, the combination with a bristle-carrierand a bristleretaining carrier, and means for actuating the same, ofmeans for yieldingly holding the retaining-carrier against the maincarrier, consisting of a spring pressed or weighted guide having anacting face arranged parallel with the supporting-surface of themaincarrier, and adapted to act upon the retainingcarrier to hold ityieldingly against said main carrier and revoluble rolls for draggingthe bristles of a desired length from between the carriers,substantially as described.

7. In a bristle-separatin g machine, the combination with two endlesscarrier-belts, as B B arranged one above the other, and means forimparting motion thereto, of means for causing the lower lap of theupper carrier to move in frictional contact with or a predetermineddistance from the upper lap of the lower carrier, consisting of a springpressed or weighted guide having an acting face arranged parallel withthe supporting-surface of the main carrier and adapted to act upon theretaining-carrier to hold it yieldingly against said main carrier, oneor more sets of rolls for dragging bristles of a predetermined lengthfrom between said carriers, and means for actuating said rolls,substantially as described.

8. In abristle-separating machine, the com bination with abristle-carrier and a bristleretaining carrier, and means for actuatingthe same, of revoluble rolls for dragging bristles of a desired lengthfrom between the carriers, and means for yieldingly holding theretaining-carrier against the main carrier, comprising a board, as II,movably secured to the frame of the machine, and a spring, as its,substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I affix mysignature, in presence of two witnesses, this 20th day of November, A.D. 1895.

TIIOHAS G. TIIOM PSON.

lVitnesses:

TAYLOR E. BROWN, WILLIAM S. HALL.

